SINGAPORE: Former City Harvest Church leader Chew Eng Han was charged on Thursday (Feb 22) with attempting to flee the country from Pulau Ubin in a motorised sampan on Wednesday morning.
He was on bail of between S$75,000 and S$1 million and due to turn himself in on Thursday to start serving a jail term of three years and four months for his role in the misappropriation of S$50 million of church funds. It was the largest fraud involving charitable funds in Singapore’s history.
Chew, 57, was arrested at sea at 8.47am on Wednesday for leaving the country from an unauthorised point of departure “without being compelled by accident or other reasonable cause”, court documents stated. The sampan, piloted by Tan Poh Teck, was intercepted by the Police Coast Guard about 2.4km away from Pulau Ubin.
Tan, 53, was also charged on Thursday with abetting Chew’s attempted illegal departure by taking him on his fishing boat bound for Malaysia.
Tan Poh Teck was piloting the boat that carried former City Harvest leader Chew Eng Han when it was intercepted by the coast guard. (Photo: TODAY/Koh Mui Fong)
The pair had claimed to be on a fishing trip when they were arrested. The coast guard, which intercepted the boat following a tip-off, said a preliminary investigation revealed the men were headed to Malaysia.
The authorities seized S$5,000 in cash and fishing equipment from the sampan.
Both men face one charge under the Immigration Act of attempting to leave Singapore unlawfully at an unauthorised point of departure.
Channel NewsAsia understands Chew had boarded the sampan at Pulau Ubin, where he had travelled from the mainland on his own.
If convicted, they face up to six months’ jail and a fine of up to S$2,000.
The authorities arrested Chew’s older brother Eng Soon, 61, at about 3.40pm on the same day. Chew Eng Soon had abetted his brother to flee the country, authorities allege. He has not yet been charged.
